Diskeeper revamps, becomes Condusiv Technologies

Diskeeper, best known for its defrag software, has retooled itself over the last six months and now has a new moniker---Condusiv Technologies.

The company had been named after its Diskeeper product line, but it has virtualization optimization tools and other applications to come under relatively new CEO Jerry Baldwin.

Separately, Condusiv launched a new version of Undelete, software that enables users to recover various files and versions in Windows file servers, desktops, virtual servers and application servers.

Undelete 10 comes in server, professional and client versions and can restore files purged from the Microsoft recycle and recovery bins. Undelete also has a data shredder to delete files and overwrite the space the file occupied.

We caught up with Baldwin about the prospects for Condusiv, a profitable company with a history dating to 1981. Here's a look at the highlights:

The new name. Baldwin said that Diskeeper doesn't reflect what the company is about. Condusiv is better suited to encompass the product portfolio including Undelete, V-locity and others. V-locity is focused on eliminating storage bottlenecks in virtualized environments and the "boot storm" that can occur when a bunch of virtual machines fire up at once.

Internal systems. Condusiv just completed a move to Salesforce.com from outdated systems and processes---many paper based with applications no longer supported. "We lacked business intelligence and IT systems to follow the lifetime value of a customer," said Baldwin. Sales were flat and no one knew why." Salesforce.com and Marketo are the systems now.

Partnerships. Baldwin has been focused on expanding the channel and OEM deals. Condusiv is plotting distribution in 50 countries, forging partnerships with the likes of Sandisk and being embedded on ultrabooks from Acer, Asus, Lenovo and others. Baldwin said the ultrabook plan is to optimize SSD performance on ultrabooks. On the enterprise side, Condusiv is talking with NetApp and other key corporate players.

Revenue mix. Today most of Condusiv's revenue comes from Diskeeper, which is an enterprise play primarily. In the future, Baldwin is looking to get 30 percent of Condusiv's revenue from OEM deals, 40 percent from Diskeeper, 20 percent with Vlocity and 10 percent from Undelete. Today, Condusiv's revenue is 90 percent enterprise and 10 percent consumer. Five years ago, the revenue split was 70 percent enterprise and 30 percent consumer.

Product UI. Baldwin said the common theme from customers was that Condusiv's products needed a better user interface. The software was designed for system admins and had an interface to match. With Undelete, Condusiv launched a UI that can be used by SMBs. "Anybody can use it," said Baldwin.

Undelete 10

Challenges. Condusiv's biggest challenge is finding engineers near its Burbank, Calif. headquarters. As a result, the company may open operations in Austin or the Bay Area. The company is also eyeing global expansion and has launched its products in nine languages. SaaS versions of its products will also be available via partnerships. For instance, V-locity could enter the software stack via Rackspace.